Lush’s recipe for success: Elevating in-person payments and staff efficiency

Prior to working with Adyen, Lush used a traditional approach to checkouts: tills as a way to accept payments. 

This created additional time spent in queues, failing to meet the fast-paced demands of shoppers.

"At Christmas, people would walk past the door, look inside, see a long queue and move to another store because they didn't want to wait around," explains Mike West, Finance Director at Lush Digital.

It also impacted staff efficiency. Managing crowded spaces and lengthy checkout processes resulted in wasted time and resources, especially during peak season with temporary staff to train.

By integrating with Adyen, Lush has rolled out mobile terminals in over 430 of its stores (and counting). This lets shoppers pay anywhere, without being redirected to the till area.

“There's no desk or till bank in between staff and the customer, removing a barrier. It's a bit more human and personal, which is the type of experience we aim to create at Lush,” says Adam.

To increase staff efficiency, Lush built their own POS system on the mobile devices — something they couldn’t do with previous hardware:

"We built everything from the ground up with a Lush staff member in mind. From the product images, to quick ways to search and login, to easy checkouts, and so on,” says Mike.

An added bonus? 

Shoppers can tap their phone or scan a QR code to receive digital receipts. This not only contributes to Lush’s “invisible checkout” experience, but aligns with the company’s goal of reducing its environmental impact. 

With Adyen’s financial technology, Lush has taken its service to new heights:

• Smoother peak season checkouts: Over 2,000 mobile terminals allowed Lush to process up to €2m a day during the busiest time of year. 

• Better payment flexibility: Lush has integrated 50+ local payment methods both in-store and online, letting shoppers pay however they want. This is especially helpful with foot traffic from tourists who want the payment methods they’re used to. 

• More efficient processes: “Training is much quicker with the new solutions we’ve got. We’re able to train staff in an hour, compared to an entire morning or afternoon. It’s very beneficial to us,” explains Mike. 

• Cross-channel customer insights: Lush can now leverage payment insights to inform their digital and in-store strategies. Case in point: 53% of their shoppers have revisited their stores. 

“[Removing tills has] completely changed the dynamic of the shops. We also gained more space, so now we can add more products and experiences in the shops too,” says Adam.  

And Mike agrees, sharing, “While there are many factors at play, we have seen an increase in conversion and sales since implementing the changes. It’s quite indicative.”

This is just the beginning for Lush as they plan to elevate their offering:

• The development of Lush Lens, a feature in the Lush App which lets customers learn about and identify package-free products by snapping a photo of the item. “In the future, we want to have a basket in the store where you can scan over Lush Lens, and it’ll recognise everything — creating an even quicker checkout experience,” explains Adam.

• A Lush wallet experience, which will be bundled into a wider feature called Lush Club. The wallet would be a place for receipts to live alongside gift vouchers or bookings the customer has at any of their spas. 

Lush is dedicated to creating the ultimate customer experience, and with Adyen’s integrations, they can continue to innovate this year (and beyond).